In second-half stoppage time at the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday, Marshall, moving to his right, impressively changed direction and tipped Andreas Weimann's close-range effort behind.

It sealed a precious point in the Bluebirds' fight for Premier League survival and the Norwegian was keen to praise both his No.1 and his centre-back pairing, Ben Turner and Steven Caulker, for their efforts in holding off Villa.

"I thought it was a goal," Solskjaer told BT Sport of the late chance, "but, then again, you've got David Marshall there so you almost expect him to save it.

"He saved us again but you can talk about Steven Caulker and Ben Turner. They've done a fantastic job, as good a performance as you can ask for."

Turner himself called on the Cardiff supporters to continue to back the team in their fight to avoid the drop, with the club second from bottom.

"Obviously things haven't been going as well as we want," the defender remarked.

"We suffered a disappointing result in the derby [losing 3-0 to Swansea City] but we need to stick together and we need the fans now more than ever."

Villa boss Paul Lambert also had praise for Marshall, telling the press: "'Marshy', who I know from Celtic, has kept them in it. He's made two world-class saves, especially the one at the end.

"In the second half we were fantastic," the Scot added, "and I thought there was only one team likely to win it. Leo [Bacuna] should have scored, Gabby [Agbonlahor] should have scored and the two saves Marshy had has kept them in it.

"He's played against Barcelona at Camp Nou and was world class that night. You're talking about parking the bus; we parked everything that night. Then we played against Rangers on the Sunday and he was the same then.

"You always knew he had the potential. I think he lost his way a little bit then started to pick up again and he had a really good game."